Henry County Record Inc. v. Community Newspaper Holdings Inc.

Pursuant to OCGA § 9-13-142, the Henry County sheriff, probate court judge and superior court clerk decided to change the official legal organ of the county from The Daily Herald, which is published by appellee Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc., to The Henry County Record the Record, published by appellant Henry County Record, Inc. Appellee filed a petition for writ of mandamus and injunctive relief on the basis, inter alia, that the Record was not legally qualified under OCGA § 9-13-142 to be the official legal organ of Henry County. The trial court granted appellee’s petition. The Record appeals in Case No. S01A1271; the three county officials who selected the Record as the official legal organ appeal in Case No. S01A1273. Finding no error in the trial court’s ruling, we affirm.

1. The trial court determined that the Record failed to meet the requirements set forth in OCGA § 9-13-142 a 3. That statute provides, in pertinent part, that no newspaper shall be declared the official organ of any county unless “for a period of two years prior to designation and thereafter, the newspaper shall have and maintain at least 75 percent paid circulation as established by an independent audit.” Emphasis supplied. The evidence presented to the trial court established that the Record’s circulation had fallen below 75 percent paid circulation for approximately six months out of the two-year period prior to designation. The Record could meet the statutory requirement only when the calculation involved the overall percentage of paid circulation to total papers distributed during the two-year period.